Auchan Romania has launched a pilot with a smart cart solution at its Drumul Taberei hypermarket in Bucharest. According to information of The Retail Optimiser, the retailer is using Hanshow’s Snapcarts with Shopreme software. The solution is available to Auchan loyalty programme members who have at least 1,000 loyalty points. With the Smart Carts, they can scan products and enter handwritten shopping lists.
To use the Snapcarts, customers select a shopping trolley fitted with a mount and scan their loyalty card to unlock a tablet. They then scan the items before placing them in the trolley. The display shows the scanned products and the total value of the basket. The pilot project comprises 24 tablets and 90 shopping trolleys fitted with the necessary mounts.
At the end of the shopping trip, the solution generates a payment code for a dedicated Scan&Go and Smart Cart checkout area. There, customers can pay either in cash, by card or using vouchers. In the pilot store, Auchan continues to offer manned checkouts, self-checkouts and Scan&Go via customers’ own smartphones.
Shopreme digitises handwritten lists
Thanks to a feature developed by Shopreme, the solution can scan a handwritten shopping list and automatically convert it into a digital list on the screen. This allows customers to keep track of the products they have already placed in their trolley whilst shopping. They can also use the tablet to access the Auchan’s catalogue and view available offers.
Hanshow’s hardware has been in use at the Australian retail chain Woolworths since 2024, as The Retail Optimiser reported. It is not permanently attached to the shopping trolleys but it is instead clipped onto them by the customer. Like other smart trolleys, the device combines self-scanning with the detection of items not scanned, using cameras. The Hanshow device uses two cameras for this purpose.
Auchan is gaining insights from the pilot
Auchan Romania intends to use the pilot to find out how shoppers respond to the technology. The retailer aims to further develop the solution in collaboration with its customers. According to Raluca Mindirigiu, Director of Marketing and Customer Relations at Auchan Romania, the technology is designed to make shopping easier, more intuitive and faster.
The pilot project complements the Scan&Go service that the retailer launched via its app in 2022. With this service, customers scan the products using their own smartphones. According to Auchan, the number of Scan&Go transactions in 2025 rose by more than 20 per cent compared to 2024. The average shopping basket contained 21 items during this period.
